When 2FA is enabled, every login / sign-in require users to input password and TOTP along with their user ID. Also, when strict security measures like device tracking is enabled, users are required to enter the OTP sent to their email ID to authorise the device.
With such security measures, a regular user account cannot be used to invoke the OpenSpecimen APIs by automated systems. External systems use APIs to pull/push the data from/to the OpenSpecimen.
To solve the above problem, starting v8.1, a new type of user - API user is implemented. API users are special type of users a) that do not require OTP for sign-in and b) whose devices are not tracked. However, they have one important restriction - the IP address (or range) of the device from which the APIs can be invoked is fixed. It cannot be any random IP.
It will be the responsibility of the super administrator to configure the API user and share the details with concerned parties after doing due diligence.
Steps:
Navigate to Home → Users → Create
Select Yes as the answer for API User?
Specify the host IP address or range of allowed IP addresses in the text box appearing below the API User? as illustrated in the image below -
IP address can be:
Host IP address as in 142.250.67.196. This means the API user account can be used to invoke APIs from this IP address alone.
IP address range using Network address / mask notation (aka CIDR notation). For example: 142.250.0.0/16. This allows to invoke API from any IP falling the range - 142.250.0.0 - 142.250.255.255 (for a total of 65,025 IP addresses)
Few more examples:
142.250.67.0/24 signifies the range 142.250.67.0 - 142.250.67.255 (for a total of 255 IP addresses)
142.250.67.248/29 specifies the range 142.250.67.248 - 142.250.67.255 (for a total of 8 IP addresses)